Go Agg(ricultur)ies
I live in a funny place, you guys. You may remember that one of my very first impressions of this valley was to do with a sign advertising bull semen. The sign is still there, by the way.
You are almost as likely to see a tractor or deer making its way up my street as a minivan with the little stick family decals on the back (you are welcome, predators!). And sometimes it's kids walking their 4-H animals up the street. The first time I saw a sheep on a leash out my front window I thought maybe I'd died and gone to Awesome. (For the not-awesome side of sheep, some of them think they are roosters. Which we already have around here. What is even that urgent at 6:30 a.m., sheep??)
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| My row markers, because I am maybe I tiny bit crazy |
In my own agricultural ventures, have planted the garden. And then had a dream that it snowed on my tomatoes. Which, considering where I live, is not entirely out of the question, okay?
Last year I planted a little bit of everything, came down with morning sickness, lost interest, and wanted to burn the whole thing down by the end of the summer. This year I'm being a bit more selective, still not doing a ton of any one thing, and also seeing if I can get chemicals to kill weeds for me. Have planted:
Corn
Cucumbers (Pioneer Pickling, because the 8 weeks pregnant version of me thought that making quarts and quarts of my own pickles sounds like So! Much! Easy! Fun! The 8 months pregnant version of me is probably going to have some different things to
Dill (you know, for the pickles)
Basil
Cilantro
Peas
Beans
Carrots
Buttercrunch lettuce
Bell peppers (red and orange)
1 Cherry tomato
1 Grape tomato
2 Sun Sugar cherry tomatoes
Sugar Pie pumpkins
Baby Boo pumpkins
1 zuchinni
1 yellow squash
Which . . . seems like a lot now that I look at the list. Huh.
Oh! And a row of beets, because I had seeds left over from last year's disaster and thought, "Enh, why not?" Also because I saw this picture and died of longing:
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| Tomato-Beet Salad from Everyday Food |
Oh, you just did too? Yeah, that's what I thought. Also if you weren't in a feta mood I think some regular chevre on top of this could really be . . . um, excuse me, I think my forehead is sweating or something.
That's enough about me. How do YOUR gardens grow?
I'm Steph, a librarian and mom of 3 (not sure how that happened). Let's chat books, food, Sumptuous Literary Adaptations, poop, knitting and maybe some crazy Mormon Feminism.
5 comments:
This is the first year I've been more than marginally successful growing a garden. Each year has been better than the last, for the most part, but it's been a slow learning curve. This year I am growing tomatoes, buttercrunch lettuce, green leaf lettuce, carrots, beets, sugar snap peas, pumpkins, green beans, and watermelon (I hope on the last one). The lettuce is already delicious, and the peas are blooming, so I'm hoping we'll be enjoying them soon. I tried growing beets and green beans last year, but earwigs enjoyed the seedlings to the point where there was absolutely nothing left. At least I had a tomato harvest last year. I love tomatoes.
Sean's taken charge of the gardening at our house. Which totally works for me.
Ugh. I am a failure at life and gardening this year. Ed put a couple tomato plants and tomatillo plants and herbs in containers to see how they do since we need to make a garden plot that is deer proof or a greenhouse or whatever. I"m sure I'm going to regret those plants when people expect me to make salsa and enchilada sauce and canned tomatoes with them.
I already find the herbs borderline offensive people they imply I should be making dinner and using them. But I love that you were ambitious 8 weeks pregnant. Who even has motivation then? Way to be awesome.
That should be because, not people.
That is quite an inspirational list. I grew up in a rural area and everybody gardened like crazy. I hate the outdoors - there are BUGS and I get SWEATY and I burn in less than three minutes even with decent mineral-based sunscreen so then I'm pink covered in a ghostly white haze and it makes me ITCHY - so we joined a CSA program three years ago. It's my way of getting fresh local healthy food into my life without actually doing the work of gardening. Plus then I get to be smug about "supporting local small business" and "farm to table" and stuff. I'm very good at the smug part by now.
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